Practice Mindful Awareness

The
reason that I recommend audio guidance when you're getting started is that
it works a little bit like training wheels. When you are learning to ride
a bike, it's natural to swerve all over the place, fall down, get confused
about how to brake or shift gears, and so on. The same is true for learning
mindful awareness. The audio guidance helps to gently keep you on course.

You will begin to recognize that each time you practice mindful awareness
in your daily life, whether sitting quietly, doing yoga, or changing a diaper,
you are committing to a way of being that increases your capacity to remain
present and connected with your baby, curious and compassionate, solid and
grounded in the face of whatever comes up.

Flex that mindful-awareness muscle a little bit every day!

This guided meditation, mindful awareness of breathing, lasts about 20 minutes. You can listen to it in its entirety, or just for a few minutes if you are short on time.

You might listen to it while nursing, during a lunch break, in your car while the baby is napping in the carseat, immediately when you wake up, or just before going to sleep.

Mindful awareness of breathing is an ancient and foundational practice for cultivating equanimity.

If you like, you can alternate between sitting quietly and mindful
movement from day to day, or on busy days, do a little practice whenever
you can fit it in.

The key point is to visit the territory of mindful awareness
often.

"I think mothers everywhere would greatly benefit from this book. It
is honest, openhearted, straightforward and compassionate. Mindful Motherhood
is an invaluable resource for moms at any stage in their parenting."
— Sharon Salzberg, meditation teacher and author of Faith:
Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary
Art of Happiness.